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The game got very odd in the 4th quarter as the Knicks started holding the ball for the full shot clock to slow the game down. The 76ers started fouling, as a counter move, to get the ball back. The Knicks then started fouling other players to keep Chamberlain from scoring. Wilt finally started bring the ball up court, so they had to either stop him or foul him, and for that one night he made 28 of 32 free throws.

Wilt's "go-to" move was not the dunk, but rather the finger roll and the fade away jump shot.

In his 143 games against Bill Russell, Wilt averaged 28.7 ppg and 28.7 rpg.

In 1962, his coach, Frank McGuire, asked him in the pre-season to score 50 PPG, because he said that was the only way they could beat the Celtics: Russell couldn't stop Wilt, but Russell's teammates were vastly superior to Wilt's (the 1962 Celtics featured 7 hall of famers on the roster). During Wilt's last 7 years, his role changed. Coach Alex Hannum asked Wilt to score less, pass off more take higher percentage shot. The reason why was because the Sixers had talent to match the Celtics'. Wilt told Hannum that he would do anything to win a title, and he responded with perhaps the single finest season in NBA history: 24.1 ppg, 24.2 rpg, 7.8 apg, 68.3% from the field, NBA championship

"The greatest play I've ever seen was one of the last games of the 1966-67 season and were playing Baltimore. We [Philadelphia] were going for the best record in NBA history. There was a play earlier in the game where Gus Johnson had dunked one over Wilt. Gus ... was a physical specimen [6-foot-6, 230 pounds], all muscle. He loved to dunk and was a very colorful player. When he slammed it on Wilt, he really threw it down, and you could tell that Wilt didn't like it one bit.

Later in the game, Gus was out on the fast break, and the only man between him and the basket was Wilt. He was going to dunk on Wilt--again. Gus cupped the ball and took off--he had a perfect angle for a slam. Wilt went up and with one hand he grabbed the ball--cleanly! Then he took the ball and shoved it right back into Gus, drilling Gus into the floor with the basketball.

Gus was flattened and they carried him out. Gus Johnson was the only player in NBA history to suffer a dislocated shoulder from a blocked shot."

--Billy Cunningham, Tall Tales (by Terry Pluto) p. 236

"Wilt did come into the league with a good touch from the outside, which made his early scoring that much more significant. He wasn't just dunking the ball then."

--Red Holzman. A View from the Bench. P.70

"The best players I ever saw. The best players I can ever imagine. Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...These were all players who could dominate the game from their positions, whatever positions they played. At any point, these six could simply take the game over, and change its direction. They could all do many different things...These guys were supermen, and they would have been the best no matter when they played. They not only had incredible natural talent, they worked at it too."

--Walt Frazier (Knicks broadcaster and hall of fame player), Walt Frazer: One Magical Season and a Basketball Life. (written in 1988), pp. 162-63.

"I said before I faced him, 'Wilt isn't such a tough guy. Let me guard him!' He backed me down and dunked the ball so hard, the ball came through the net and hit me in the forehead twice! Bang! So I said, 'You know, I think maybe he is that great.'

--Spencer Haywood, 5-time all-star, The NBA at 50 p.169

"When I coached the San Francisco Warriors, I thought Al Attles was the fastest guy on our team--by far. We used to gamble a lot--which player could jump the highest and run the fastest. So I set up a series of races, baseline to baseline. In the finals, it was Wilt and Al Attles and Wilt just blew past him. I'm convinced that Wilt Chamberlain is one of the greatest all-around athletes the world has ever seen."

--Alex Hannum, Tall Tales (by Terry Pluto) p. 327

Watching Wilt, you always kind of got the idea he was just playing with people. That he was on cruise control and still 10 times better than anybody else that was playing at that time.""

--Dan Issel, Hall-of famer with 27,842 career points ABA and NBA

Opponents used to put multiple players on Wilt (the defined "illegal defense" rules weren't in place until the 1980s), and they still couldn't stop him. Opponents used to put their elbows into Wilt (illegal today), and they still couldn't stop him. They used to mug the guy, and the refs allowed it, because they were trying to help the other guys, since Wilt was too overwhelming. Today, superstars get preferential treatment. Nearly every single rule passed since the 1960s has been to help the offense have an easier time, even though now teams walk the ball up the court. Wilt would simply dominate the league with these easier rules. He would lead the league in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and be near the top in fg%, and he would certainly lead all centers in assists.

-Wayne Embry

People say the NBA then was a scoring league then. Well, Wilt made it a scoring league. Jack Twyman and Chamberlain became the first players in NBA history to average 30 points a season, in Wilt's rookie year, 1960. So he was the first to average 35, 40, 45, and finally 50 ppg.

-Terry Pluto

Last edited by Slick Pinkham; 03-02-2012 at 04:41 PM.

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

I had the honor of meeting Wilt just before his death. Wilt was an enthusiasic dupliate bridge player in California and a friend of mine ran the club where he played. A little old lady (there are a lot of them in the bridge world) went up to Wilt and asked if he was a basketball player because he was so tall.... Wilt laughed and told her that the had never played the game. I was devasted by his death. I guess because of the physical speciman that he was, he would be indestructable. Sadly, that was not the case. You left out Wilt's biggest achievement, his 20,000.......

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

It sucks a lot of these games weren't televised. Though I suppose it adds to the mystique.

Also

Later in the game, Gus was out on the fast break, and the only man between him and the basket was Wilt. He was going to dunk on Wilt--again. Gus cupped the ball and took off--he had a perfect angle for a slam. Wilt went up and with one hand he grabbed the ball--cleanly! Then he took the ball and shoved it right back into Gus, drilling Gus into the floor with the basketball.

Gus was flattened and they carried him out. Gus Johnson was the only player in NBA history to suffer a dislocated shoulder from a blocked shot."

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Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

Yea it is so hard to convey how REALLY GREAT some of these players were back in the 60's and 70's..

I only started watching basketball at the beginning of the 80's when I was about 6yrs old .. lol But I remember all the ABC televised games , especially on Saturdays after cartoons were all done playing..lol
But I have seen alot of tapes and videos of games, moreso now with the internet..

The only way I could describe the utter dominance of Wilt as a player, would be if you took Shaq and Dwight in their prime , and morphed them into one player.. then multiplied that by 3 ... But also, Wilt wasn't just an under the basket guy.. He could actually shoot the ball..

Him and Bill Russell had one hell of a rivalry.. Russell got the better of him in winning more titles due to having the better team, But Wilt was most definitely the better player.. but Bill himself was the closest big man behind him.. IMO..

Last edited by Kemo; 03-02-2012 at 08:42 PM.

"They want to be famous. We want to be champions. They want to be rappers and backup dancers. We want to play football." - T.J. Ward, Denver Broncos

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

Wilt was the most dominant player of all time. Not the best, but the most dominant.

He's actually the player I like to compare LeBron James to. He could do so many things on a basketball floor that he was basically a one-man army. He could beat entire teams by himself. Ironically, his own greatness is what hurt his teams in the playoffs. He had a hard time grasping a team concept.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

I saw Wilt play in his later years. While his overall talent level is higher than any center I've ever seen, I'd still take Shaq in his prime over Wilt. Different eras, but if they were brought into the same era on the same court the paint would still be Shaq's.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

I wasn't born yet for the 100 point game, but I got to see him play a little. It's hard to describe how good he really was. It's like the athletic seven foot kid that plays for the small town high school and just head and shoulders (HA) above the other kids. He could score every point if he wanted, but he didn't. But he could, you know?

When he was talking about coming back when he was like 50, I'm not sure that he couldn't have done it.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

Wilt would have dominated Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, Kareem, and even Shaq.

FWIW, Kareem played Wilt pretty effectively. I've seen clips where he owned Wilt, although it was in his latter years. But yes, Wilt was the better player. Amazingly, he was more talented, athletic and physical than Kareem.

But I think Wilt's legend has grown beyond what he really was. Yes, he would have dominated Robinson and Ewing. Not so much Hakeem and Kareem. Hakeem was basically a bigger version of Bill Russell defensively. I think it would have been a great matchup between him and the pre-2000 Shaq. Overall I agree Wilt > Shaq but for a period of time Shaq was so dominant in the paint I cannot imagine Wilt having much room in there. Shaq was enormous...almost beyond human...55 lbs heavier than Wilt and both taller and longer....and while not that athletic he was pretty mobile in his 20's. He would have swatted shots and been very difficult for Wilt to guard on the other end. It really would have been epic.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

FWIW, Kareem played Wilt pretty effectively. I've seen clips where he owned Wilt, although it was in his latter years.

Kareem's first four years coincided with Wilt's last 4 years, that is the only reason. Even a young Kareem never made 1st team all-defensive center over an old Wilt. Wilt's final season, he set a record for field goal percentage (72.7%) and led the league in rebounds.

In looking over their head-to-head matchups, they faced each other 28 times, with 14 wins apiece.

Wilt bested Kareem in both scoring and rebounding 6 times, Kareem got the better of Wilt 10 times, 5 of which occured in the 6 meetings in Wilt's last year when he scored just 14 ppg for the season, but he got 16 rpg in those 6 games. Wilt was still the second most productive player in the NBA in his last season, when he retired after 14 seasons. Kareem was the 136th in his retirement year, and the Lakers won 6 more games after Vlade Divac replaced him in the lineup. http://uponfurtherreview.kansascity.com/?q=node/3402

Wilt was the only person to block Kareem's sky hook in his prime. Three times he had 10 or more blocked shots in a game vs. Kareem's team, with at least 5 of them being shots by Kareem.

Overall, the decade older role player held his own pretty well. Kareem had the upper hand in scoring by then, but it was not domination.

Last edited by Slick Pinkham; 03-02-2012 at 11:32 PM.

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

FWIW, Kareem played Wilt pretty effectively. I've seen clips where he owned Wilt, although it was in his latter years. But yes, Wilt was the better player. Amazingly, he was more talented, athletic and physical than Kareem.

You can't compare a guy in his absolute prime vs a guy in the twilight of his career...

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

I'm only 30 so I can't say I saw Wilt play, but what is the reasoning for his wild fluctuations in his stats? The guy had years with 2-3 assists, and then would quickly have over 8 assists a season or two later? Years shooting 68% and the next year at 54% or something.

I mean it's clear he focused on shooting less and passing more in some seasons more so than others. I'm not sure why though. He had pretty much the same talent around him from what I can see some of those years.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

To be fair, couldn't that have been simply because defenses would force him to pass out of double and triple teams? I only say that because sometimes high assists make a player seem like a great passer when perhaps it just reflects a WILLING passer who was a phenomenal scorer.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

Kareem's first four years coincided with Wilt's last 4 years, that is the only reason. Even a young Kareem never made 1st team all-defensive center over an old Wilt. Wilt's final season, he set a record for field goal percentage (72.7%) and led the league in rebounds.

In looking over their head-to-head matchups, they faced each other 28 times, with 14 wins apiece.

Wilt bested Kareem in both scoring and rebounding 6 times, Kareem got the better of Wilt 10 times, 5 of which occured in the 6 meetings in Wilt's last year when he scored just 14 ppg for the season, but he got 16 rpg in those 6 games. Wilt was still the second most productive player in the NBA in his last season, when he retired after 14 seasons. Kareem was the 136th in his retirement year, and the Lakers won 6 more games after Vlade Divac replaced him in the lineup. http://uponfurtherreview.kansascity.com/?q=node/3402

Wilt was the only person to block Kareem's sky hook in his prime. Three times he had 10 or more blocked shots in a game vs. Kareem's team, with at least 5 of them being shots by Kareem.

Overall, the decade older role player held his own pretty well. Kareem had the upper hand in scoring by then, but it was not domination.

Oh, I agree Wilt was the better player in his prime. No need to convince me about that. But people look at his 100 point game and think he was well beyond anything else we've ever seen at the center position. I don't believe that's true.

The reality is, Kareem's most effective years in the NBA were his 2nd and 3rd years. I highly suspect the league as a whole became more competitive as time went on, and Wilt Chamberlain's ridiculous numbers would have never happened in the modern era or maybe even in the 1970's. Props to him for being before his time, but he wasn't dramatically better than Hakeem Olajuwon. Also, I think he'd have his hands full with Shaq...who has over 100 lbs on Kareem...who Wilt could over power at times.

In any event, I wish Wilt had come along 20 years later rather than in an era where PF's were 6'6". It would have been entirely different...

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Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

Since there were only 8 teams in the league, Wilt played more games against Hall of Fame centers than any center ever. I mentioned he played Russell 143 times. Shaq would face Hakeem, Ewing, or Duncan at most 4 times a year each in a lot of seasons, for example.

There is a lot of discussion about the era, but nobody had ever scored 30 ppg until he entered the league- not even once. His dominance and Celtics fast break basketball, copied by so many others, transformed the game.

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

Oh, I agree Wilt was the better player in his prime. No need to convince me about that. But people look at his 100 point game and think he was well beyond anything else we've ever seen at the center position. I don't believe that's true.

The reality is, Kareem's most effective years in the NBA were his 2nd and 3rd years. I highly suspect the league as a whole became more competitive as time went on, and Wilt Chamberlain's ridiculous numbers would have never happened in the modern era or maybe even in the 1970's. Props to him for being before his time, but he wasn't dramatically better than Hakeem Olajuwon. Also, I think he'd have his hands full with Shaq...who has over 100 lbs on Kareem...who Wilt could over power at times.

In any event, I wish Wilt had come along 20 years later rather than in an era where PF's were 6'6". It would have been entirely different...

It seems that we've almost gone full circle and we're back to 6'6" pf's today.
We were spoiled in the 90's with so many great centers and big men playing the game. I wasn't alive when the 100 point game happened and I honestly don't remember much about Wilt's playing days. In my adult life I'd say Hakeem in his prime was the most dominate center, he made a young Shaq look out of his league. I'd still think Wilt in his prime would have been a notch above both of them.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

I'm only 30 so I can't say I saw Wilt play, but what is the reasoning for his wild fluctuations in his stats? The guy had years with 2-3 assists, and then would quickly have over 8 assists a season or two later? Years shooting 68% and the next year at 54% or something.

I mean it's clear he focused on shooting less and passing more in some seasons more so than others. I'm not sure why though. He had pretty much the same talent around him from what I can see some of those years.

When the coach ask him to score , he did (more than anyone else), when the coach ask him to pass, he did (let the league in assists) and always played defense and rebounded.

Re: Reflecting on Wilt's 100 point game 50 years ago

I saw Wilt play in his later years. While his overall talent level is higher than any center I've ever seen, I'd still take Shaq in his prime over Wilt. Different eras, but if they were brought into the same era on the same court the paint would still be Shaq's.

Shaq would have had no chance against Wilt. Will weighed almost 300 lbs but it was all muscle. He was the strongest man in the NBA. Remember that shoving and pushing (fouling) the way Shaq played was not allowed then. If it had been, Wilt might have averaged 50 for his career...... Wilt had a great verticle leap. Some say it was 48 inches. He was also the fasted man on the teams he played for. .........